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Without Jefferson we wouldn’t be winning these games..
Posted by: Christon Rigby on April 22nd, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.I know Jefferson has done a poor job defending the P&R but give the guy a break, without him we would really have a hard time scoring the basketball! He is not only filling up stat sheets but also winning games for us! What is your opinion Jazz Nation? All he way from the Netherlands I say: Go Jazz!!!!
Replies: 41
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41 Responses
All THE way ofcourse..
Any player constantly having double doubles has to be for the good. This is a TEAM effort with the good, the bad, and the ugly..
Jefferson closed the game well which was quite surprising but the real person making us win these game is Derrick Favors. As soon as he came into the game our defense became stifling.
… with CJ and Josh Howard neither …
@L.K That is great that he scores 20 points but if he allows his man to score as many points as him he is a wash.. That is the case most of the games. Also your logic is flawed.. Boozer constantly got 20-10 for us but his defense was horrible like someone else I know. So everyone wanted to pick on Boozer for his bad defense but does not want to pick on Jefferson??
I disagree that we would not win games with out him. Someone would step up and score more if he was gone. We run our offense through him that is why he scores so much.. We are not going to win in the playoffs if he is our number one option.. I mean Hayward took 7 shots last night SEVEN!! That is ridiculous. He needs to be getting at least 12 shots a game..
When we run the offense through Gordon we win and we win big.
@Dallan, there are plenty we agree about. There are a couple of things though. I do agree that it’s a bad plan to not have Hayward shoot less than 10 shots. Last night he was just ok. Did great everywhere else, but had 6 turnovers. I do agree a couple of those were just no calls on a foul. He had a decent game.
Jefferson…I feel like there are times he steps up when he wants to. Hayward was chasing his man all night because of the bad PnR defense Jefferson was showing. (That, or Hayward was going through like 5 screens.) The Magic I feel set out to make it part of the game plan to take the ball away from Hayward. Only 7 shots, and still 12 points? That is good. Jefferson needs to do what he did in the final 2 minutes ALL GAME! Dallan is correct on that.
A little basketball knowledge. When the man taking the most shots makes less points than has attempts for shots, you don’t win many ball games. That’s what happened with Jefferson last night.
Favors makes up for a lot of Jefferson’s inadequacies on the defensive end, and Jefferson does the same for Favors on the offensive end. Millsap is the heart and soul of our team. I see the Super lineup of Harris, Hayward, Millsap, Favors, and Jefferson happening a lot next year, not our starting five, but will play more minutes together than the starters. Just saying.
i agree with you guys statistically. But theres just not many guys in the league that can produce + 20pt/20reb games, especially in the post. and there is alot of value in clutch playing ability. Its a tough debate, but i dont think its a good idea with this team to get rid of the most consistent clutch offense we have until more scoring from other players happens. we willprobably see what KOC is thinking by this summer. It seems like Sap and Al’s contracts are ending at the same time about the time Favors and Kanter should be consistent. Kanters shooting range is starting to emerge and he looked good keeping the ball secure in the post last night. I really think last night was Favor’s break out night.
Props to Corbin for rotations last night, awesome job!
@Christon, your damn right!
anybody catch the other awesome lineup last night?
I think it was Tinsely, Harris, Burkes, Hayward, Favors. Basically 4 guys that could run the floor at point in at the same time with favors… love it! would only work on a small line up or a zone defense but pretty deadly
Jefferson is the sh*t. He is a better defender than carols was because of his length and he can block. Plus we got to the western conference finals with boozer and had a great team while he was here. I don’t like him much but he was worth haveing just like bit AL. I love the guy personally and can’t believe most fans are so ungratefull for him!
I think we need Big Al right now. I know he’s not the most efficient, and needs to defend the pick and roll better, but when we REALLY need two points, I trust putting the ball in his hands every time, more than any other Jazzman.
Also, don’t discount what he DOES do well for what he doesn’t. The only trade, IMHO, that would be worth trading Al is for a Granger, Iguodala or Lowry. Have to replace his scoring with reliable outside shooting, not hand the scoring burden to Favors/ Kanter yet.
Big Al was a monster in last games, our first offense man, remember that.
@Guido, that isn’t really correct. Harris had a better offensive game last night than him. Also, the game before it wasn’t him, it was Harris and Hayward. The night before against Dallas was him, but he had to play better than he usually does, well because it was Dallas, and somehow the Jazz had to counter Dirk’s 40. The night before He was tied with Harris for 20, with Hayward and Millsap close behind.
Al’s points can be distributed to various other players. I honestly think that the inside/outside game is fine, but just going to Jefferson…not a good call. He needs to drop some of his shot usage, and those others need to go to other players. Take that energy, and focus it on defense.
When an NBA team gives up 36 points in one quarter against a Howardless magic, someone is playing bad defense. When the magic score 36 points in one quarter running the same play (P&R), someones P&R defense is bad.
The only reason Big Al even had an opportunity to make those clutch shots is because he was on the bench when Kanter and Favors were playing exceptional P&R defense and brought the jazz back. The reason the jazz were not trade baskets in the 4thgame is because Favors was on the court.
Favors doesny not need the ball in his hands to score, so losing Big Al really wouldn’t hurt the jazz offense as much as you claim, because the the offense would run through Hayward, Harris, Millsap, Burks, even Kanter, and Favors would still get his points from the P&R and rebounding. If Favors got 35 minutes a game, hed be a 20/15 guy, easily….without taking a lot of shots nor dominating the ball and negating the other players on thw court.
Championship teams have had guys who score a lot, guys who score some, and guys who score little….BUT never has a championship team had guys that play a lot of defense, guys who play some defense, and guys who play little defense!!!! The Bulls didnt win championships because MJ took a lot of shots and scored a lot of points, they won cuz the whole team played exceptional defense. So please stop acting like jefferson getting 20 and 10the will win a championship. It wont. If the jazz spot the spurs 36 points in the first quarter, not even Favors defense will put Big Al in a position to make 1 or 2 shots in a row at the.end of the game or OT, cuz the jazz will be losing by like 25.
@Gerald: I dont agree with u, Harris has red hot nights latest games, so he took A LOT of shots, and he’s not a passer too. I think Big Al is cig part of us, also have a nice 15 feet shot, really important for a C.
cig/ *big
Guido, you don’t have to agree with me, but the numbers don’t lie. I was just saying what the numbers are saying.
Numbers? OK.
Agreed, really our only good PnR defenders are our young guns. The Jazz would be a lot worse if Big Al was not with us. We’d still play hard but be closer to 25 wins to finish the season instead of 35. He’s carried the Jazz throughout games and won games for us. He isn’t our future, just someone who bridges from the Boozer-Williams era to the Favors-Hayward era.
Andrew, I think I could go along with Al being a bridge. I think Jefferson wants to be in a winning atmosphere. I think he realizes that things will change, and he might have to change some things about himself to continue to be in that kind of atmosphere.
Totally agree with this post. Jefferson is the ONLY consistent scorer on this team. He is 9th in the NBA with 50 double-doubles this year. Say what you want but without Jefferson we are nowhere near the playoffs. He is also very clutch. How many big men in NBA history would you give the ball on the low block with 5 seconds left in the game?? … and score more often than not?? Now he isnt an all time great obviously but he is arguably the best offensive C in the game right now. Ask any other team in the league save Atlanta, Orlando, and LA and they will trade you Centers without hesitation. Why cant we just appreciate what we have?
Edit on that stat. I meant to type 30 double doubles. Also he moved into 8th last night.
@Everyone saying Al plays great offense read this carefully… IF YOU TAKE 20 SHOTS SHOULD YOU NOT SCORE 20 POINTS? YOU SHOULD BE SCORING MORE THEN 20 POINTS ON 20 SHOTS. This is not the case multiple times with Jefferson. Plus in the last couple games we have played against players that he should have DOMINATED against..
@Omar keep doing what your doing.. Sounds like browncoat is the same person as us as well
Well OKC going down locks up the number one spot for the spurs, they play the Cavs and Blazers, so spurs will rest players against Phoenix and GSW.
So the good news is that GSW might get two more wins: TWolves and Spurs.
The bad news is that the jazz can realistically only make the playoffs by beating phoenix, a great P&R offensive and great shooters, great bigs that can shoot.
There is a reason the jazz get smoked by Suns, cuz jazz might have the worse P&R defender. Big Al barely does the hokey-poky: he puts his left or right foot in, he puts his left or right shoulder in, and then he takes them out. Thats not P&R defense, that a move 3that year ilds and 85 year old grandmas do on wedding dance floors. Millionaire basketball playets that profess a desire to play in his first playoff series since his rookie year do more than the hokey-poky, if they are serious. Hope Frye is not playing.
@Dallan right on!!!! We are all the person!!! Im hungry lets go eat.
Going over the last 10 games Jefferson “won” us by his offense lets see how many he really did that
Orlando- Not efficient 21 pts on 22 shots P&R allowed Davis and Nelson to go off. Favors defense won us the game
Portland- 11 points on 14 shots against D-League opponent won because of Hayward and Harris WON
Dallas- This game was exceptional for him WON
Memphis & New Orleans- When the time mattered for these two teams to win all they had to do was attack Al off the pick and roll and pulled away LOSES
Houston-He had 15 points on 14 shots not efficient won because of Hayward, Millsap and Carrol hustle WIN
San Antonio-Without the big 3 against 6′7 Blair 12 points on 12 shots WIN
San Antonio- 19 points on 23 shots inefficient LOSS
Golden State- Good game 30-11 but it is against Tyler and Biedrins he better dominate them. But Tyler had one of his best games as a pro but remember Favors had his Career game against GS earlier in the year. So did he win this game for us?? Favors could have done the same thing WIN
Portland-13 points on 17 shots inefficient we won because of Hayward and Millsap. WIN
So out of all these games he only “won” us one game by his offense but I could argue it was his 25 rebounds and defense that made the difference that game. His game filled with effort during that game. So he can do it but he does not try all the time. I bet you could go through the rest of the games and find the exact same things
@Dallan great statistical prove!
No one is saying Big Al is a bad guy, we are just saying he is a lazy defender and an insufficient scorer.
I agree with Dallan, Omar, Gerald, etc. Jefferson is not the future here. We will never be any more than a borderline playoff team with him as our primary option. He’s consistent, but not nearly as efficient as a #1 scorer should be. He doesn’t get to the line enough, and takes as many or more shots as points scored. Then there’s his pathetic P&R D, and lazy boxing out. The best move would be to trade him over the summer for a PG and/or wing that can score from the outside.
For now though, we’re stuck with him. So let’s just hope for the best.
TACOREV thank you for pointing out that Big Al tends not box out and give up rebounds. But ya we are stuck w him, hope he realizes that this will be his first real chance with a good team to make a run in the playoffs and decides to play some good D and and ball stop.
@Dallan, Gerald, Omar, Taco: Hate to break it to you guys, but Al Jefferson averages 49% field goal percentage.
Especially Dallan. LOL this is going to destroy your whole argument, buddy. Good research on the last 10 games; But you forgot the most basic stat: …what is Al Jefferson’s field goal percentage?
Al Jefferson has a .49% field goal percentage this season.
Why don’t you read that again.
Al Jefferson has a 49% field goal percentage. Let me help you with the math. If Al takes 10 shots, he’s going to make 5 of them.
Your 20 points on 20 shots argument is moot. Yes, it’s happened several times this season. But it’s the exception to the rule.
His field goal percentage is down lately, this is true. But there have been A LOT of games where he has shot in the 60% from the field.
All I’ve got to say to you is this: Remember the game after his grandmother passed away? He shot like 80% in that one.
But yeah he’s a horrible defender. STill. 49% field goal percentage.
@Nick… KC put together this blog a while ago, and in it he explains how and why Al is inefficient as a team’s primary scoring option: http://www.utahjazz360.com/olwildcory723/are-the-jazz-really-good-enough/
@Nick, that actually is pretty pedestrian for a Center: 49%.
He actally ranks 10th among Centers. Big Al shoots worse than Noah, McGee, Pelovic, Chandler, Gortat, Monroe, Hibbert, they all shot over 50%. Pekovic over 56% and Gortat 56%. Chandler 64%.
Well hot diggity a whole 49 percent!! We should definitely keep him now! All those centers Omar just listed I would take over Al because they play both ends of the floor.. Hahahahaha you base your argument on him shooting 49 percent. And it is the exception to what I said? Once again his offense is not efficient. If you made 15/30 for 30 points you shoot 50 percent but you shot 30 times to get there… INEFFICENT!!
Oh and if all your worrying about is his offensive greatness should he not be in the top 3 since you all make excuses for his play? His offense has won us SO many games but he is not even top 10 at his own position in FG percentage?? Come on man
Omar, in defense, Chandler is having a crazy great season. I read an article, I think by Locke, about how good Chandler is this season. I really think Al should shoot less, have those possessions be distributed out a little better, and Al use that energy to play defense.
Dallan, I agree with you on many points, but you are coming on a little hostile. Al isn’t the most efficient player on the team. Even some of the people that don’t shoot as high as he is, are a little more efficient because of a big thing, FT’s. Al doesn’t shoot a lot of free throws. He shoots almost none. Someone that is 45% with free throws, maybe 4-6 a game is more efficient, like Hayward and Harris.
Thanks for all the replies! I’m still not convinced we could win without our 20/10 Center..but hey, let’s agree to disagree..
Go Jazz!!! #8
The problem is we go to Al too much, especially mid-game. With the way he plays, there’s not a lot of difference in his late game shots versus shots throughout the game. He shoots it at about 50%. In contrast, the defense really buckles down in most close NBA games in the last 3-5 minutes and shots get tougher to make. So to me, its well worth going to Al in those minutes when you really need a bucket. He’s shown to me he can step up in those situations. He’s basically our go-to bucket getter, followed by Millsap, Harris and Hayward.
No, the problem is we go to Al for too many possessions during the game. We have some better options in Favors, Millsap, Hayward and Harris in terms of efficiency. Favors is a lot more efficient, primarily because he takes it to the rim more and gets fouled more. During the course of the game, I’d like to see less ‘throw the ball to Big Al iso in the post’ and see more plays for Hayward, more penetration from Harris, more side pick and roll with Hayward and Favors or Hayward and Millsap. More movement. It’s funny, because Ty was saying in his mid-game interview against the Magic that there wasn’t enough movement. But we were just throwing the ball into Al. How much movement can there be on that play, TY?? Big Al is going to dribble and take a shot!
Anyway, my point is more possession distribution during the game to more efficient shooters in Millsap, Hayward, Harris and Favors instead of so much Al. Then go to Al in late-game situations.
@KC well said!
@Gerald, exactly. Chandler makes everyone better cuz of his defense, just like Big Al makes everyone worse cuz if his defense. Chandler gets to the rim and gets to the line. Among the top 20 centers listed, Big Al ranks 18th with 2.9 free throws attempts per game, which is a shame cuz he has 2nd highest FT %.
Both Kanter and Favors have a better FG% than Al, over 50% for both.
There is a reason the TWolves with Love and Al sucked, neither of them played defense. Love can get all 20 and 20 games he wants, they wont get out of the first round with their star player playing no D. Luck for the jazz its the other way around, they play double hard to compensate for Big Al.